Steering-wheel rim



April 29, 1924. &,492,363

F. EDSON STEERING WHEEL RIM Filed 001;. '7. 1921 IN VENTOR Patented Apr. 29, I924:

UNITED STATES arser out FRANK nnson, on NEW roan, N. r, .assienon. 'ro INTERNATIONAL Moron comrm, or NEW roan, a. Y., A conronarronor nnnawaan STEERING-WHEEL RIM.

Application filed October 7, 1921.

To all wlwm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK EnsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steering-Wheel Rims, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

his invention relates to improvements in steering wheel rims, and more particularly to that class of rims comprising a fiber core and a vulcanized exterior casing, and to the 16 process of making such rims.

The invention consists in the wheel rim hereinafter more particularly described and claimed andin the process for making the same.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part hereof and which illustrates the preferable, but not the necessary, embodiment of my invention Figure 1 is a plan view of a wheel rim m made in accordance with my invention, one part of the rim being broken away in order to show the interior construction.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of a well known type of core forming machine.

Figure 3 is a detail showing the splice of the core and the manner in which it is wrapped.

Figure 4 is a sectional view through the mold showing the wheel rim inserted in the vulcanizing mold.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of a modified form.

Referring now to the details of the drawing by numerals: 1 designates a core which I prefer to make of a fiber composition comprisin ground textile fibers and rubber mixe and forced in a homogeneous mass throu h a tubing machine 3, said core being reinf drced by a metallic element as the open mesh wire 2. Around this core is wound a heavy fabric ply designated by the numeral 4. To the said fabric ply d is applied an exterior casing 5 of rubber. After the wheel rim is built up as thus described, it is placed in metal molds, such as 6, and vulcanized so that when removed from the mold a complete rim is made. which has the appearance of being made of solid rubber and provides a handsome wheel rim very Serial No. 508,010.

well adapted for the purposes for which it is intended.

The core 1, of course, needs to be spliced where its ends are joined. This may be done in any number of ways such, for example, as that shown in Figure 3. It will, of course be understood that I do not limit myself to this method of splicing the ends.

In the form of splice shown, the spliced ends are connected by means of wire fasteners 7, but it will be understood that other forms of fastening devices ma be employed. The splice is strengt ened by means of a tape 8 which is wra ped around the spliced ends as shown in igure 3, before the fabric ply 4 is applied.

The aforesaid core may be made on the usual core machine, such as that illustrated in diagrammatic form in Figure 2. In this machine, however, I have made the worm 9 hollow, so that the flexible wire may be fed through the worm as the core is being made.

Instead of providing the core with a reinforcing element as it is forced through the worm, I may make the core in the shape shown in Figure 5, in which case a groove is formed in the core and the flexible wiremesh dropped into the groove 10 before vulcanization and before the core is wrapped with the fabric ply 4.

From the foregoing and the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that I have provided a very simple form of wheel rim and a novel process of making the same, although it will be understood that I am notlimited to the details of construction of the rim nor to the exact process herein described for making the same.

What I claim as my invention:

1. As a new artice of manufacture, a steering wheel rim comprising a core of fibers and rubber, and a casing of rubber,

the whole being vulcanized.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a steering wheel rim comprising a core of fibers and rubber, a fabric covering for said core, and a casing of rubber, the whole being vulcanized.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a steering wheel rim comprising a core of fibers and rubber, a reinforcing metallic element. embedded in said core, and a casing of rubber, said core and said casing being vulcanized.

4. A steering wheel rim, comprising a molded'rubber composition core, and a casing of rubber vulcanized around said core.

5. A steering wheel rim, comprising a reenforcing element, a rubber com osition molded therearound, and a casing 0 rubber enclosing said rubber composition.

6. A steering wheel rim, comprising a rubber composition core composed of particles of rubber and fibrous material, and a casing of rubber enclosing the core, the two being vulcanized.

7. A steering wheel rim, comprising a rubber" composition core composed of particles of rubber and fibrous material, a reenforcing element extending therethrough, and a casing of rubber enclosing the composition core.

8. A steering wheel rim, comprising a molded rubber core, fabric wrapped around said core and a casing of rubber completely enclosing said fabric.

9.A steering wheel rim, comprising a molded rubber core, a reenforcing element embedded therein, fabric around said core, and a casing ofirubber completely enclosing said fabric and vulcanized thereto.

10. The rocess of making rims which consists in orming a solid core of fibers and rubber, joining the end thereof to make an endless rim, covering the same with rubber, and vulcanizing the whole into a complete endless rim. V

, 11. The rocess of makin rims which consists in orming a core of bers and rubber, inserting a reinforcing wire element therein, joining the ends to make an endless rim, covering the same with rubber, and vulcanizing the core and the rubber cover to form a complete endless rim.

12. The recess ofmaking rims which consists in orming a core of fibers and rubber, joining the ends thereof, placing a ply of fabric over said core, covering the fabric with rubber, and vulcanizing the whole into a complete endless rim.

13. The rocess of making rims which consists in orming a core of fibers and rubber, inserting reinforcing wire strands therein, joining the ends to make an endless rim, covering thesame with a ply of fabric, placing a casing or rubber over said fabric, and vulcanizing the whole to form a complete endless rim.

This specification signed this 28th day of Sept., 1921.

FRANK EDSON. 

